A Puzzling Conversion Problem??

[Elaphe]

I've been going in circles with this for so long that, if I ramble a bit, or if my thoughts are slightly disjointed, please understand that even trying to think of this makes my mind feel like it's on a merry-go-round spinning at mach 10.

Since if I mention the files in question, others may be automatically know the solution, being familiar with this particular file and it’s problem, but not knowing if I am allowed to mention specific files, I will alter the name slightly (though you should be able to ferret out the true name.) Additionally, since any file may have many names, I will define it by it’s listing on vcdquality.com. The file in question is - Xarexevil *SVCD* *FS* - by VCDCentral (cd1 & cd2, though that is not mentioned on VCDQuality).

Now to the heart of the issue: I got this file as an mpeg-2, in two parts, from a newsgroup, and both parts exhibit the same problem. I will go as step by step as I can in case my problem is procedural, though I doubt that’s it.

In an attempt to join them, and because I only trust a conversion I’ve done myself, I first used VirtualDub-1.4.13-MPEG2-AC3 to convert cd1 (then cd2) into 1 Divx 5.0.3 codec (no audio) file, and 1 Wav PCM 48000 16bit stereo file. I'd then recombine the audio and video (direct stream copy) using VirtualDub. Then I repeated the process with cd2. Now, if all went well I would have then appended cd2 to cd1 to VirtualDub (direct stream copy), after subtracting any overlapping frames, of course. Then separate the new combined file into it’s audio and video components using a direct stream copy of each component again using VirtualDub (1 wav, 1 avi no audio). I would then use TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 to convert to an mpeg-2 file (after adjusting the settings, and tweaking as needed). Then use Ulead movie factory 2.0 to burn to dvd.

Usually if there is an audio sync problem I use Ulead VideoStudio 6, to add an audio spacer, trim frames, or whatever is needed to solve the sync problem. In the case of a two part video (cd1 & cd2), I check for audio sync problems before combining the segments, and if needed adjust it using Ulead VideoStudio 6, updating the separate audio or video files, or both as necessary. Then proceed as stated above.

Only, the sync problems that occurred with both cd1 and cd2 were huge. I mean really huge. To simplify I will address only cd1 (though cd2 has the twin problem), the video component ran 01:11:30.05, but the audio only ran 00:51:04.14. The original mpeg-2 file plays fine and shows no audio sync problems, or any missing audio that I noticed. The wav audio file is not cut. When compared to the original mpeg-2 file, the first 10 seconds of the wav audio matched the first 10 seconds of the mpeg-2 file, and the last 10 seconds of the wave, matched the last ten seconds of the mpeg2 file (Note this was done by ear so ten seconds is an approximate).

Now here is what I tried hopefully it may give some insight: I loaded the mpeg-2 in TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 and set the output to ES (audio only) and adjusted the setting to produce a wav file - no change. I then let TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 produce an mp2 as well and converted the mp2 to a wav using SoundEditPro - no change. Then using mpeg tools demultiplexed the mpeg-2 and converted the mp2 file to a wav file - no change. I then used TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 mpeg tools to merge both the original mpeg-2 cd1 and cd2; the merged file had the typical huge audio sync problem. I used DVD2AVI to convert using the audio output method: decode to wav. The sync problem was still present. I then repeated the process setting the audio output method to: demux. Then I converted the mpa audio file to wav. No change. I used AVIcodec 1.0.9.1 on the mpeg-2 files. This is the result of cd1 (the results of cd2 to were essentially the same):

File : 774 Mb (975 Mb), duration 0:51:01, type MPG, 1 audio stream(s), quality 88 %

Video : 894 Mb, 2450 Kbps, 29.970 fps, res. 480*480 (16:9), MPG2 = MPEG 2 (SVCD/DVD), Supported

Audio : 81 Mb, 224 Kbps, 44100 Hz, 2 chan., 0x51 = Mpeg-1 audio Layer 2 [0xc0], Supported

I did note that the video was MPEG2 while the audio was MPEG-1. Now I don’t know if that means squat, but it seemed a point of interest.

Ok, I am now at a loss, and totally out of ideas. In fact, I would simply abandon these files completely, if not for two facts: 1) This is the best rendition I've seen out there, and 2) I cannot find the *SVCD* *FS* - by VCDCentral in any other format (not even the same format).

Help!!!!

I can also make these files avail through FTP should that be absolutly necessary in solving this problem, I am not sure if this is allowed, but If I do it on my own through the FTP vechile, I dont see why not, since the site is not involved.

Best Wishes,
Elaphe

[Tommyknocker]

What happened when you try to join the files using just Video Studio?

[DJRumpy]

You can avoid the bad frames, and hopefully the sync problems, by using AVISynth, DVD2AVI (v1.76), and MPEG2DEC. If you can't find version 1.76 of DVD2AVI, go to the www.doom9.org web site. They should have it. You can get MPEG2DEC here, or there as well. Get AVISynth version 2.08 (again, it should be on both sites)

Open each MPEG in DVD2AVI, and save it as a project file. This takes substantially less time than saving a new AVI. It also does not introduce a quality loss since your not resaving in DivX.
Call your saved file DVD2AVI1.D2V. Call the second disk MPEG DVD2AVI2.D2V. Put the script in the same directory as your project file. The script is created with NOTEPAD, or any text editor. Save the script with a .AVS extension (example: movie.avs )

I'll use the long format for writing this script. It's easier to read.

LoadPlugin("mpeg2dec.dll") #put the MPEG2DEC.DLL file in your Windows directory
clip1=mpeg2source("dvd2avi1.d2v")
clip2=mpeg2source("dvd2avi2.d2v")

At this point you could simply splice them together using this format:

clip1 ++ clip2

The problem with this is the overlaping frames. You get rid of these frames, by using the TRIM command. You can trim/splice down to the frame level. This MPEG's can be opened in VirtualDub MPEG to get the exact frame number to crop to.

LoadPlugin("mpeg2dec.dll") #put this file in your Windows directory
clip1=mpeg2source("dvd2avi1.d2v")
clip2=mpeg2source("dvd2avi2.d2v")
newclip1 = Trim(clip1,0,125000)
newclip2 = Trim(clip2,124890,0)
newclip1 ++ newclip2

Of couse the Trim command frame numbers are just examples. The 0 indicates either START, or END, depending on whether or not it's the first, or last number respectively. The first number is of course, the START frame. The second number is the END frame.
Example:
Trim(0,15000)
This would encompass all frames, from the beginning of the clip, to the 15000th frame.
Trim(15000,0)
This command would encompas all frames starting at 15000, and ending at the end of the clip.

The double ++ sign specifies an Aligned Splice, which means AVISynth will ensure that the audio is synced at the splice point. It will insert silence if necessary to ensure it stays synced.

This script can be 'played' back realtime in MediaPlayer, or any player that supports DirectShow:

LoadPlugin("mpeg2dec.dll")
clip1=mpeg2source("dvd2avi1.d2v")
clip2=mpeg2source("dvd2avi2.d2v")
newclip1 = Trim(clip1,0,125000)
newclip2 = Trim(clip2,124890,0)
newclip1 ++ newclip2

Just drag/drop it onto media player to view the results.

[Elaphe]

No Dice - neither suggestion worked.

[Elaphe]

What I am going to try now is this. I got another version of this film. The video is not as nice, and the audio needs some work. I am going to try to clear up the audio and supplant it in the video of the original one with the better video. Hopefully, this will sync nicely, and my problem will be solved.

[EddyH]

Forgive me if this is stupid, irrelevant, and of totally no help... but why are you converting MPG2 SVCD to MPG2 SVCD... through DivX?
Why not just rip the video stream directly?